Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Spanish-Style White Bean, Kale, and Chorizo Soup

I received the most awesome surprise gift from my friend Mary at Two Sisters last week. She sent me a sausage package from Pig-Of-The-Month that contained: 2 Lamb and Orange Salamis, 1 package of Andouille sausage, 1 package of chorizo sausage, and 1 BBQ piece of Pork Shoulder.

Is that an amazing friend or what? I am a very lucky lady!

Immediately I started searching around for a good recipe for that chorizo and came across the Spanish-Style White Bean, Kale, and Chorizo Soup recipe at the Cooking Channel. This sounded like the perfect dish to eat on a cold winter evening, so I went for it.

The chorizo was AMAZING and quite spicy in the heat department. It really was the primary flavoring profile for the entire dish. Lots of cumin, oregano, and red pepper. The soup came across as more of a white bean chili and it was great with a piece of cornbread and a Corona beer. I would definitely make this again.

Soak the beans overnight in a bowl, covered by at least 2-3 inches of water.

The next day, drain the beans and place them in a large pot. Pour in 8 cups of the chicken broth, add the bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the beans, partially covered, for approximately 2 hours or until tender. Remove the bay leaves.

Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth in a cup and add the saffron threads to soak.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. If your chorizo is an aged, harder style, chop it into 1-inch pieces. In my case, my chorizo was fresh, so I simply squeezed it out of the casings. Saute the chorizo in the oil, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate.

Add the onion, reduce the heat to a medium, and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the red-bell pepper and the paprika. Cook for 2 minutes longer, then transfer the contents of the skillet to the bean pot. Feel free to deglaze the saute pan with some ladled chicken broth from the beans to get all that yummy fond on the bottom of the pan! Add that to the bean pot too.

Stir in the saffron soaking with chicken broth to the bean pot. Add the chorizo and the kale. Bring back to a simmer and cook until the kale is wilted, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the vinegar, and serve hot.